Annabel Neasham isn’t taking any chances with four-time Group 1 winner Zaaki with a tilt at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes pushed aside in favour of the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 15.
“He’s just not himself at the moment,” Neasham told Sky Racing.
“We’re not really sure what to put it down to but he did have his inoculations to go overseas a bit later on and it probably just coincided with that.
“He’s just been a bit flat.”
A last start winner of the Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m) at Flemington last November, connections are happy to put the horse first and then see what prevails.
“He owes us absolutely nothing,” Neasham said of the eight-year-old gelding.
“He’s now in the paddock for a couple of weeks and then he’ll come back in.
“We’re going to trial him at Randwick at the beginning of April and provided he shows his old zest, I think we’ll go to the All Aged.”
Zaaki was runner-up in the 2022 Queen Elizabeth Stakes after leading but being run down late by Think It Over.
